Thacker: We expect to win at Grimsby

Hall Road Rangers manager Martin Thacker has urged his side to go into tomorrow’s Toolstation NCEL Division One fixture at Grimsby Borough with a winning mentality.

A big crowd is expected as the match is the final game of the second day of the exciting NCEL Easter GroundHop – kicking off at 6.30pm.

The Rangers are currently 16th and have already secured their league status for next season, but Thacker sees no room for complacency.

Grimsby are bottom of the table and have yet to win at home all season.

He told Non League Yorkshire: “We have nothing to gain other than three points, but we have to go in and expect to win.

“We’re going something wrong if we don’t want to win, and I think we’ve just got to defend the way we have in the last 14 games and hopefully we can find a goal at the other end.”

The added excitement of GroundHop day seems to give this game a potential to be a thriller despite little riding on the result, but Thacker admitted the event is only really beneficial for home teams.

He said: “I think if you’re going be in the GroundHop day you want to be at home.

“It would have been certainly more beneficial if it was at home, it brings people through the gate and publicises the football club better.

“With our move next season we could have really done with a bit of publicity from the event, but we’re not going to let the fact we have to travel away from home when everyone will be at work deter us from wanting to get the three points.”

In anticipation for the move to Haworth Park, chairman Darren Sunley announced last week that the club will bring back their reserve side, who play in the Humber Premier League next season.

Thacker believes having a second team can help push forward the club.

He said: “I think we need to keep pushing on in every area.

“We need to bring through local players. Having a reserve team gives our young kids a chance to shine in open-age football because at the minute they’re not quite ready for Counties.

“They can certainly cope in the Humber Premier League, and we can make sure they can have a stepping stone before the first team.

“It certainly makes my job easier, when we have injures as we will have people to replace them, but the only difficulty I might have is keeping everyone happy.

“When people sign for the club I want them to sign for the vision of the club.

“I want people to sign for the vision of the club when they sign on the dotted line, whether that be for the veterans, the U18’s or the reserves, I want them all behind the first team week in week out.”

One youngster Hall Road have certainly pushed in his development is Sam O’Malley.

The 19 year-old signed at the turn of 2015 on dual-registration terms from Scarborough Athletic.

Thacker believes he is be a prime example of how the club develop younger players, and hopes he can stay at the club.

He said: “In terms of him staying, I think he wants to play at the highest standard he can.

“If he can make it at Scarborough’s team and go back and earn a bit of pocket money I’m more than happy for him to go back.

“But I know Sam and he wants to play football, and I think the more he plays the better chance he has of making it at a higher level, so I’d love to keep him around for that reason.

“We are more than happy to become a stepping stone for players like Sam, and I hope that other players in a similar situation in the local area follow suit.

“We can only see it as a positive for the club if we can take a player from a team like Scarborough and push them towards a first-team place in a higher division.”